Head chef Sean Townsend is settling in nicely at The Prince of Merewether, having made the jump from the one-hatted Muse Kitchen at Pokolbin to the popular suburban pub.
Not that The Prince is just any old pub. It has a new name, a new look and a new executive chef: the talented Tim Montgomery.
"The Prince is such an iconic Newcastle establishment. When I saw that Tim was on board, I knew I had to be a part of it. I was also keen to make the move from the Hunter Valley to Newcastle," Townsend told Food & Wine.
Townsend worked at Muse Kitchen for five years, having previously trained with chef Daniel Southern and working for Melbourne's Van Haandel Group. At The Prince, his priority is "doing the simple things well".
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"I'm making things from scratch - whether it's a house-made cultured cream to add to green beans or a crumbed and deep fried egg for a classic Caesar salad," he explained.
"Although it definitely is a different dining experience, I still use my Muse Kitchen creations as inspiration for many of the Prince dishes. For example, the way I dry-age kingfish, the way I make my home-style potato gnocchi and the terrines and paté I use for the charcuterie selection. I have used Muse as inspiration but changed it to suit The Prince."
There are two menus to choose from at The Prince, an a la carte bistro menu and a bar menu. The bistro menu features a selection of starters designed to share, charcuterie, modern Australian mains like confit Redgate Farm duck leg, a variety of steaks from Hunter Valley Premium Meats and salads.
"Salads are often an afterthought on many menus - but not here," Townsend said.
"Personally I'm quite partial to the green bean salad. It might sound basic but it's finished with house-made cultured cream, pine nuts, basil, mint and parmesan. It's designed to ignite the taste buds."
The starters menu certainly ignites the tastebuds. Food & Wine visited this week and was particularly impressed by the kingfish sashimi with fried eggplant, citrus, soy and avocado, and the applewood smoked salmon rilette. And the chips are good, too. Crunchy and seasoned just right. You can tell a lot about a venue from the chips they make.
The bar menu features pub classics like burgers, schnitzels and fish and chips, as well as a range of thin-crust pizzas. The dough is stretched by hand and "proved" for 24 hours.
"The overall vision for The Prince was to create something for everyone," Townsend explained.
"It's such a large venue that this seemed appropriate, and it became a goal for the food offering as well. Aside from that, our focus is the quality of the food. We're not here to pump out lots of ordinary food.
"We have also ensured that the menu caters to those with special dietary requirements. As someone who can't eat dairy, I know how difficult it can be. I created the roasted cauliflower and cashew cheese salad with this in mind. It's vegan and the orange zest, dill and lentil dressing adds something very special."
When he's not in the kitchen Townsend, who is living with stage three lymphedema, likes to keep busy.
"Each day I take my two gorgeous dogs for a walk, train at the gym and meditate. I have also recently begun swimming before work now that I am so close to the beach," he said.
"Keeping fit and being really strict with my diet is essential to the management of my condition as there isn't a cure."
The Prince of Merewether is open daily, 11am until late, at 1 Morgan Street, Merewether.
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